by Teresa Eubanks, Journal Editor
A pair of back-to-back bomb threats sent the staff at Calhoun Liberty Hospital scrambling Tuesday afternoon as they searched the facility to ensure nothing suspicious had been brought into the building.
“I think it was simply a hoax but we treated it as if it was real,” said interim administrator Ruth Attaway.
She said an unknown adult male with a deep voice made two phone calls that day. The first call came in at 1:12 p.m. and the second at 1:22 p.m. Each time, he said the same thing: “There’s a bomb in your building.”
“We followed protocol and it went smoothly,” Attaway said. Law enforcement was notified and hospital department heads had a quick meeting before disbursing to check their areas of the facility.
“We checked every nook and cranny in the building,” said Attaway, who noted that the rooms of the hospital’s 15 patients were checked first. She said the perimeter of the facility was checked and nothing suspicious was found.
“The case is open at this time pending further investigation,” said Blountstown Police Chief Mark Mallory. “There was an initial lead that EMS had been sent on some false calls earlier in the day but after speaking with a 911 operator, this information does not appear to be connected at this time.”